Pilar Mendiola Fernandez
Mexican-born leadership development executive and strategist, former Washington Center executive and group CEO of Alamo Holding Group
Pilar Mendiola Fernandez (Mexican-born leadership development executive and strategist, former Washington Center executive and group CEO of Alamo Holding Group) has appeared as a guest on 1 episode in TMT. Topics they speak about most include Leadership identity, CEO-X leadership methodology, Leadership development.
In their words
Positions and remarks grouped by topic, each with the exact quote and where it was said.
Leadership identity
Mendiola Fernandez says the main obstacle for leaders is ego rather than naivety.
“I think so. I think that the challenge more than naivety is ego”
Tomorrow, Today: Leadership Beyond Strategy With Pilar Mendiola Fernandez | Shekhar Natarajan (Oct 27, 2026) · Listen from 51:12
Mendiola Fernandez argues leaders need at least a basic understanding of each vulnerability area because a company cannot outgrow its leader's identity.
“not only do you ask the right questions, but also the company will never grow beyond the leader's identity”
Tomorrow, Today: Leadership Beyond Strategy With Pilar Mendiola Fernandez | Shekhar Natarajan (Oct 27, 2026) · Listen from 48:49
Mendiola Fernandez argues that failure should be treated as feedback, and that tying identity to results is self-defeating.
“I learned that it was feedback and that if I tied my identity to the way that I achieve results, then I was over”
Tomorrow, Today: Leadership Beyond Strategy With Pilar Mendiola Fernandez | Shekhar Natarajan (Oct 27, 2026) · Listen from 27:45
Mendiola Fernandez describes herself as a strategic alchemist who transforms data, constraints and complexities into valuable information.
“I basically transform data, constraints and complexities into a very valuable information”
Tomorrow, Today: Leadership Beyond Strategy With Pilar Mendiola Fernandez | Shekhar Natarajan (Oct 27, 2026) · Listen from 24:51
CEO-X leadership methodology
Mendiola Fernandez identified recurring CEO vulnerabilities such as prospective blindness and technology vertigo, which she turned into competencies.
“I started to see that it was a prospective blindness, like not being able to really take into account megatrends and prospections into their strategy”
Tomorrow, Today: Leadership Beyond Strategy With Pilar Mendiola Fernandez | Shekhar Natarajan (Oct 27, 2026) · Listen from 44:11
Mendiola Fernandez says pressure-testing corporate strategies showed her that leaders themselves, not just strategies, must be future-proofed.
“of course, you would need to future-proof the strategy, but you need to future-proof the human that is leading the strategy”
Tomorrow, Today: Leadership Beyond Strategy With Pilar Mendiola Fernandez | Shekhar Natarajan (Oct 27, 2026) · Listen from 40:22
Leadership development
Mendiola Fernandez says that after the 2008 financial crisis, Fortune 500 companies looked to international regions and became the largest funders of their education programs.
“the companies start looking at international just regions and that's when we started getting the most funded basically investment from Fortune 500”
Tomorrow, Today: Leadership Beyond Strategy With Pilar Mendiola Fernandez | Shekhar Natarajan (Oct 27, 2026) · Listen from 21:44
Mendiola Fernandez observed that governors and senior officials at the time had no place to pursue leadership development, often holding cabinet posts in areas they knew little about.
“governors and prime ministers and all high-level position, they didn't have at that time a place to do leadership development”
Tomorrow, Today: Leadership Beyond Strategy With Pilar Mendiola Fernandez | Shekhar Natarajan (Oct 27, 2026) · Listen from 16:34
Mentorship
Mendiola Fernandez says the most important thing a mentor can do is see the mentee as bigger than they see themselves, and that mentorship is often confused with advice.
“I think see you bigger than you see yourself”
Tomorrow, Today: Leadership Beyond Strategy With Pilar Mendiola Fernandez | Shekhar Natarajan (Oct 27, 2026) · Listen from 1:14:43
Artificial intelligence
Mendiola Fernandez views AI as a partnership that amplifies human capability, while acknowledging the need for regulation.
“i think it's a very exciting partnership the way i see it and i think that it since it's a partnership uh it will help you completely amplify”
Tomorrow, Today: Leadership Beyond Strategy With Pilar Mendiola Fernandez | Shekhar Natarajan (Oct 27, 2026) · Listen from 1:16:59
Curiosity
Mendiola Fernandez says retired CEOs who lack curiosity lead less fulfilling lives and that curiosity keeps people alive.
“I think that curiosity is the one thing that will keep you alive”
Tomorrow, Today: Leadership Beyond Strategy With Pilar Mendiola Fernandez | Shekhar Natarajan (Oct 27, 2026) · Listen from 1:01:25
Neuroplasticity
Mendiola Fernandez contends neuroplasticity has settled the debate over whether identity is fixed, showing it is made and changeable.
“it's now settled, thanks to neuroplasticity, whether identity was fixed or made. And it is settled. It's basically made”
Tomorrow, Today: Leadership Beyond Strategy With Pilar Mendiola Fernandez | Shekhar Natarajan (Oct 27, 2026) · Listen from 54:36
The Washington Center
Mendiola Fernandez says the NAFTA Leaders Internship Program was the Washington Center's first international initiative and that she coordinated it.
“that was the first one, the first time that the Washington Center would do anything international. And I was supposed to coordinate everything”
Tomorrow, Today: Leadership Beyond Strategy With Pilar Mendiola Fernandez | Shekhar Natarajan (Oct 27, 2026) · Listen from 15:31
Appearances
Leadership Beyond Strategy With Pilar Mendiola Fernandez | Shekhar NatarajanTomorrow, Today · Oct 27, 2026 · 1 h 22 min
Shekhar Natarajan talks with leadership strategist Pilar Mendiola Fernandez about her path from Mexico to the Washington Center, her CEO-X methodology, curiosity, and AI.
Often appears with
- Shekhar Natarajan · 1 shared episode